Dugway horses died of thirst

I was astounded that the Deseret Morning News would headline the not-so-"mysterious deaths" of horses on Dugway Proving Ground from 30 years ago. As usual, there is always someone scheming to get the government to give them money, like Scott Baranowski, because of their poor health, claiming they were exposed to agents like those that supposedly killed the horses in July 1976.

I was chief of the Environment and Life Sciences Division at Dugway at the time. Everything possible was done to determine what caused the deaths of the wild horses. In spite of exhaustive tests by Dugway and other agencies, nothing could be found affecting the horses that related to the work at Dugway, despite $500,000 in research.

It was found the watering hole at Wig Mountain had dried up, and the one they were using at Orr Springs was nothing more than a muddy seep. The BLM had recently constructed a pipe from the spring to a shiny new trough elevated 2 to 3 feet with fluttering flags attached to poles around it to improve the flow. Nearby was a pile of creosote-soaked poles with a strong odor that was going to be used for other purposes. This contraption so "spooked" the horses that they would not go near it. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. They simply died of dehydration.

J. Clifton Spendlove, PhD

Salt Lake City